Mrs Moses says both she and the majority of the mothers are befuddled by the working family tax credit and would like to see it simplified.

"I've given up trying to understand it," she says. "Because it is so hard [to understand] you are never sure whether you are getting the right or wrong amount, and that means that later on you can be asked for the money back. It really needs to be simplified."

Gordon Brown made no promises to simplify the tax credit, but he did say it would be increased. The chancellor said £1bn would be invested to increase the level of working tax credits, which, he said, would leave working parents with an extra £7.10 a week, or £370 a year.

Ideally, Mrs Moses would like to see benefits on a universal, flat rate in the style of child benefit.

She earns around £30,000 a year and thinks people on much higher incomes are not paying enough tax, so might be disappointed by the chancellor's decision to increase the threshold for the higher rate tax band from £38,000 to £43,000 from 2009. She would also have liked to see the national insurance cap removed completely.